Higanbana (red spider lily) - Lycoris radiata

Japanese: ヒガンバナ(彼岸花) - ヒガンバナ（英語表記）Lycoris radiata

A perennial plant of the Amaryllidaceae family, also known as Manjushage, Shibitobana, Shitamagari, Tengaibana, etc. It is distributed in the warm to temperate zones of Japan and China, and grows on levees, cemeteries, and rice field ridges. The colonies on the banks facing the inner moat of the Imperial Palace are famous. It has a spherical bulb with a black outer skin, and the leaves appear after flowering. In autumn, a single hollow flower stalk about 50 cm long grows from the bulb, and several red stalked flowers grow in whorls at the top of the stalk. There are several membranous involucre segments at the bottom. There are six tepals, narrow lanceolate, and curled back significantly outward. The leaves are thick, glossy, linear, and grow in clusters from the bulb, growing in late autumn and dying the following spring. Because it is a triploid, it usually does not produce seeds, but in central China there are diploid species that bear fruit. The bulbs contain a poisonous substance called lycorine, but there are records of them being soaked thoroughly in water to extract starch and used as a famine food.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

ヒガンバナ科の多年草で，マンジュシャゲともいい，他にシビトバナ，シタマガリ，テンガイバナなど多くの呼称がある。日本および中国の暖帯から温帯に分布し，堤防，墓地，田のあぜなどに生える。皇居の内堀に面した土手の群落は有名である。外皮の黒い球形の鱗茎で，葉は花後に出る。秋に，鱗茎から 50cmほどの中空の花茎を1本出し，茎頂に赤い有柄の花を数個輪生状につける。下部に膜質の総包片が数枚ある。花被片は6枚あって狭い披針形で外側に著しくそり返る。葉は厚質で光沢のある線形で鱗茎から叢生し，晩秋に伸び出し翌年の春には枯れる。三倍体のため種子は通常できないが，中国の中部には結実するもの (二倍体) がある。鱗茎はリコリンという毒物を含むが，水でよくさらしてデンプンをとり救荒食物とした記録もある。

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